Static Main Menu

Top 6 Features of Indian Agriculture – Explained!

Article shared by :

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Read this article to learn about the following six significant features of Indian agriculture, i.e., (1) Feudal Character of Production, (2) Dualism in Labour Market, (3) Usurious Capital and Growing Indebtness, (4) Orthodox Farming Techniques, (5) Fluctuations in Agricultural Output, and (6) Diversities in Indian Agriculture.

1. Feudal Character of Production:

The character of agricultural production in India was totally feudal at the time of independence. During those days the land tenure system was mostly of zamindari, mahalwari and ryotwari type. The major portion i.e., about 57 per cent of the total area was under zamindari system which paved the way for exploitation of peasants by the zamindars. Even in the ryotwari system this sort of exploitation was also prevalent.

After the introduction of land reform measures by the state Governments for abolishing intermediaries since independence, the character of that feudal system did not change much. The abolition of zamindari system paved the way for the creation of absentee landlords.

2. Dualism in Labour Market:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Dualism in the labour market become prevalent in India as due to excessive pressure of population on land, the level of wages in the agricultural sector became considerably lower in comparison to that of industrial sector. This dualism started to exist in Indian labour market due to worker’s ignorance of better opportunities outside agriculture and also due to their inability to work in a modern industrial system.

This low level of wages in the agricultural sector is responsible for low per capita income which in turn reduces the labour productivity to a low ebb. Moreover, cheap agricultural labour paves the way for the adoption of labour-intensive cultivation and discourages mechanization of agriculture.

3. Usurious Capital and Growing Indebtedness:

In Indian agriculture, the use of usurious capital is quite huge in volume and this leads to growing indebtedness among the poor farmers. During the pre-independence period, money lenders and mahajans are supplying the entire portion of agricultural credit at an exorbitant rate of interest leading to exploitation of farmers.

After independence, although the government introduced various steps such as—development of co-operative credit societies, participation of banks in raising rural credit etc. but all these could not benefit the small and marginal farmers and thus they continue to depend on village money lenders to fulfill their credit requirements.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

These money lenders are still charging exorbitant rates of interest manipulate their accounts and ultimately seize the land of these small and marginal farmers illegally. Thus this How of usurious capital in agricultural credit is responsible for growing rural indebtedness in the country.

4. Orthodox Farming Techniques:

Indian agriculture is still characterized by the use of orthodox farming techniques. Major proportion of the agricultural operations are still depending on biological sources of energy, i.e., human and animal labour, rain water and organic manure (dung). After the adoption of new agricultural strategy in 1966, modern techniques of production along-with new HYV seeds were introduced in some states like Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.

This resulted in a significant increase in agricultural productivity in those states. This has also resulted in an inter­regional technological dualism as major portion of the agricultural land continues to follow orthodox methods while only certain regions started to follow modern techniques.

5. Fluctuations in Agricultural Output:

Another notable feature of Indian agriculture is that total agricultural output of the country is subjected to much fluctuations. Dependence of Indian agriculture on monsoons is the most important factor responsible for the large-scale fluctuations in agricultural output.

Although net irrigated area of the country has increased from 20.8 million hectares in 1950-51 to 102.8 million hectares in 2006-07 but proportion of area irrigated to the total net sown area has increased from 17.5 per cent to 61 per cent only. Thus the remaining 39 per cent of the net sawn area still continues to depend on rainfall.

Thus Indian agricultural operations can still be considered as the ‘gamble of monsoons’ as nature is still playing a dominant role in determining the volume of agricultural production of the country. Moreover, due to the application of bio­chemical technology in the post-1965 period the sensitivity of output to variations in rainfall has increased.

6. Diversities in Indian Agriculture:

Presence of agricultural diversities is another notable feature of Indian agriculture. Different regions of the country are having lot of differences in their natural conditions such as soil content, magnitude of rainfall, water availability etc. same areas are facing draught conditions whereas some other areas are facing occurrence of floods. Some more areas are facing the problem of water lagging and salinity. Moreover, there exists a considerable difference inland tenure system and labour relations among the various states of the country.